We’ve entered December, and goaltending remains a topic of conversation for the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators are just getting out of a November where they got .890 goaltending — 17th-best among NHL teams. It’s better than the .846 they had in October, the second-worst rate behind St. Louis. Before Sunday’s 6-1 thumping at the hands of the Dallas Stars, the Sens’ rate was at .900.
“I think early on,” Senators goalie coach Justin Peters said last month. “We were working to find things, working to find their games. And just like the rest of the guys, the results weren’t there early. But I think the process was there, the right mindset, the right approach.”
Days earlier, Ullmark celebrated emphatically after a shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights. For good measure, he even partook in a celebratory shoulder bump with backup Leevi Meriläinen. Entering Sunday night against Dallas, Ullmark had wins in his last three starts for the first time all year and was 4-1-1 in his last six starts with a .914 save percentage.
“Certainly, I’ve looked better when I’m watching the film,” Ullmark said on Wednesday night after beating Vegas. “But it’s not just me. It’s the whole team that’s doing a lot of good things as well, and making it a little bit easier for me as well. We’ve had some bounces coming our way as well.”
“I definitely think it was kind of overanalyzed at the start,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said, when asked about how his team’s goaltenders overcame their early-season struggles. “I think he’s a tremendous goalie and a leader, and a big personality for our team. Love having him and Leevi (Meriläinen) back there. We have so much trust in them and belief that they’ll make that big save at the right time.”
Again, this was before their loss against Dallas on Sunday. It’s Ullmark’s first bad game in some time, but it wasn’t all on him. The Senators took bad penalties, made costly mistakes, and played with fire against a Cup-contending team. However, there is a projection worth pointing out.
Ullmark has already played 19 games this season, including Sunday night. Last year, Ullmark reached the 19th game of the season by Dec. 13. Ullmark is currently projected to play 62 games this season, which would obliterate his previous season-high of 49 games during his Vezina Trophy-winning 2022-23 season with the Boston Bruins.
Only five goaltenders — Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin, Samuel Montembeault, Igor Shesterkin and Hart/Vezina Trophy double winner Connor Hellebuyck — played 60 games or more last year. More often than not, you’re seeing teams try to limit their No. 1 goaltenders to 50-55 starts a season.
“For me, (I’m) always looking ahead,” Peters said when asked about Ullmark’s workload last month. “Looking at the schedule. And I understand his games played and how that works. You’re always looking at all options, and you’re always planning ahead. And you’re always (considering) the pros and the cons. And there’s a lot of decisions, I think early on in the year, that went into the starts.”
What will help bring those numbers down is using Meriläinen more. And recent performances suggest it’s worth it for Ottawa to lean on him more. Meriläinen is 3-2-0 in his last five appearances with a .902 save percentage, putting past an early-season blowout loss to the Buffalo Sabres in the rearview mirror. Meriläinen allowed four goals against the St. Louis Blues on Friday, his first time allowing since that Sabres loss in October. But he’s still performed more confidently since that game.
“I feel like it’s (on an) upward trajectory,” Meriläinen said. “Gets my confidence up for sure when I get more ice time.”
Meriläinen’s performances should warrant him more ice time, and not just because he’s playing well and needs the development. But for the sake of their No. 1 goaltender, who is veering towards uncharted territory. Ullmark’s uptick in starts is partially explained by the Sens sending down Meriläinen to get opportunities to foster his development and confidence after a poor training camp and regular season start, while also giving Ullmark a chance to “work through” his own tough start to the season.
“(Leevi is) at a stage where he’s still developing,” Peters said. “And he’s earned the right to be here. But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure we don’t hurt his development. So, there’s two parts to it, the development part for Leevi. But then also, what gives him the best chance to succeed when he steps on the ice here and what gives him the best chance to help our team?”
If Meriläinen continues to be confident in goal, the Sens should find more ways to play him (and possibly they already are) so as not to exhaust Ullmark when the games matter most come springtime.
Carter Yakemchuk leads all AHL rookie defencemen in points through 23 games this season. (David Kirouac / Imagn Images)
Is it Carter Yakemchuk time in Ottawa?
Not many people were surprised to see Carter Yakemchuk start the 2025-26 season with the Belleville Senators, the Senators’ AHL affiliate. The hope was to put Yakemchuk in a situation where he’d receive top-pairing minutes and power-play time as he experiences pro hockey for the first time, while also allowing him to work with the Sens’ staff, notably head coach David Bell and defensive coach Andrew Campbell, on his defensive play.
Through 23 games, it seems Yakemchuk has taken to the pro game at the AHL level, scoring three goals and 17 points in 23 games. Yakemchuk’s point totals lead all AHL rookie defenders and tied for second among all defencemen.
Carter Yakemchuk keeps rolling. Two more assists on Saturday pushed him to 10 points in his last 10 games.
Yak has 16 points through 21 contests with Belleville.#GoSensGo
— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) November 30, 2025
“I think he’s developing well,” Belleville GM Matt Turek said. “That’s the whole thing with any young prospect that you have. You want to put them in a situation to succeed and then just watch the growth in their game. And I think that that’s what we’re seeing with Carter right now.”
Does this mean Yakemchuk is destined to join the Ottawa Senators later this year? It certainly wasn’t dismissed as a possibility when Sens GM Steve Staios spoke to the media last month.
“We put (our prospects) in a lot of situations,” Staios said during his quarter-season avail last month. “Almost to the point where we’ve talked about Carter playing a little bit too much and the back-to-backs and the three-in-threes. We want to continue to put him in those situations and let him learn. But he’s been very, very good, and to the point where a number of those players can come up and give us minutes.”
It feels like it’ll only be a matter of time — when, not if — the Senators will call up Yakemchuk this season. Also, if TSN insider Darren Dreger’s recent comments are any indication, the Sens will want to see his development through.
What do the Senators have in Jackson Parsons?
One of the biggest revelations out of development camp earlier this summer was Embrun, Ontario native Jackson Parsons, who signed with the Senators after winning Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the year honours with the Kitchener Rangers last year. Signing with the Senators was a special moment for the 6-foot-1, 203-pound Parsons, who grew up in nearby Embrun, Ontario.
“It’s insane,” Parsons said. “I still don’t think I’ve really processed it. “I still think I have to pinch myself sometimes when I go work out in the summer (with) all the facilities. I mean, it’s really the coolest thing in the world. And I’m so grateful that the Sens chose to sign me.”
Parsons was a “big-time Sens fan” who’d go to games with his father. Particularly during the 2014-15 season, when he was 12 years old, as the city fell in love with journeyman goaltender Andrew “Hamburglar” Hammond. Hammond won 20 of his 24 starts that year, including a 10-1-1 record in March, and powered the Senators to a playoff berth.
“That was just the craziest run I’ve seen,” Parsons told The Athletic via phone call last week. “Just pucks hitting him everywhere. It was awesome, for sure.”
Parsons was also a fan of Craig Anderson, who spent a decade with the Senators, in addition to goalies like Tim Thomas and Carey Price.
In Kitchener, Parsons was the Rangers’ netminder for four seasons. He battled adversity early on, thanks to shoulder surgery partway through five games during the 2022-23 season. But he blossomed into an integral part of the Rangers’ 2024-25 run, which saw them reach the OHL’s Western Conference Finals before losing to the London Knights. During his award-winning season, Parsons earned a 37-12-3 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average.
“Staying healthy was huge for me,” Parsons said. “And just taking it day-by-day. Really enjoying the process, enjoying practice. Knowing it was my last year in the OHL, I knew it was my last kick at the can at it, and my last chance at an OHL championship. So, I really wanted to just leave nothing behind.
Fast forward to the present day, Parsons is now 21 years old, playing for the Senators’ minor-league affiliate in Belleville. Now playing for his boyhood club.
His last three starts haven’t been too kind, having allowed 17 goals in those games, including five against the Providence Bruins on Sunday. But that was after he raced out to a 3-0-0 start this season while only allowing two goals in that span of time.
“He’s a very competitive goalie,” Turek said, who watched him frequently during his days in the OHL with the Brantford Bulldogs. “He’s got very good hockey sense for a goalie. He’s constantly looking at where the other threats are on the ice, and he’s very athletic. Also, he works extremely hard off the ice as well.”